Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop IPA | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

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Reviews by alleykatking:

A- Pours a semi-hazy golden amber color. Big two finger cloudy white (color) head that stuck around for what seemed like ages. Nice thick and sticky lacing left on the sides of the glass during the entire beer.

S- Nice upfront of citrus (orange and pineapple) and bitter (pine-tree) hops in the nose. There is a slight malt spiceyness to this beer. Almost smells a little roasting action going on with the malts...it's very light if at all really there.

T- This one kind of threw me for a slight loop to be honest. Nice mellow crisp citrus hop flavor right off the get go collides with a sweet malt underbody. This turns into a sweet malt middle crashing with a pleasant bitter hop bite in the back end of this beer. I couldn't be happier with the way this beer turned out with the flavor. Great beer!

M- I would have to say this is a medium mouthfeel to this beer. The carbonation helps with this beer but it seems a little chewy. This is not a bad thing but I think it is a little different than most IPA's in general. Left a semi-sweet bitter taste on the palate with oily hop resin slicking the tounge and teeth.

D- This is a very drinkable IPA. Kind of wish they made this year around and not had it be a seasonal. But this is a very nice beer to sit on the porch and welcome in the summer or fall with. Keeps you warm on a chilly spring or fall night.

More User Reviews:

Found a bomber of this at the Mobil gas station on Telegraph in Monroe, MI. That place will be a real craft beer player in a few months. They had a few beers I've never had before and will be expanding with a COLD section or singles. Will surely be stopping by often. Anyway, Sierra Nevada has some excellent limited editions and I expect this one to live up to those expects. Let's do it.

Look - From a fat in the middle bomber into a pint glass. Beers pours a crystal clear amber with a massive off white head that dies slowly and leaves more stick in inches than your husband has in dick in inches. Clarity remains exceptional. The carbonation appears to be about moderate. This is surely a beautiful beer and there is no debate about that one. Expecting a lot of lace amongst a killed glass.

Smell - Juicy juicy juicy. I have a fruit. It ends in juice. Juicy juicy juicy juicy juicy juice. Nah kidding. Pineapple and grapefruit juices with a ton of malt left behind to lay the bill. Not sure of the age but it gets things done. A bit of spice on the back end as well.

Taste - Uh...yeah...juicy juicy juicy...we've already been there in the smell. There is a bit here that would lead you to believe that the beer may be just a bit old but the hops surely aren't bad. Some bready aspects going on as well along with a bit of slice but for the most part the beer stays spicy with a twang of rye aspects.

Feel - The body is about moderate overall with a high level of creamyness. Carbonation is on about moderate and the flavors do get a bit stale here and show their age plus the fact they sat in some room temperature lights. Swallows spicy with a bit of throat punch but not offensive at all.

Overall - I would have liked it more if it were fresher I am sure. Still a good ipa and it aged better than most. At $5.99 a bomber of you can find this fresh it would be an absolute bargain bit at this age I'd pass it up. Always next year and will try again then..

Smell: This was a unique aroma for me and I had trouble pinning it down, looking back on my notes. I couldn't decide if it was herbal, earthy, floral, or possibly even vegetal. I decided on floral. It was like a fresh flower or plant in rich soil. I guess this unique aroma was due to the use of wet hops. Overall the freshness of the hops was evident.

Taste: Similar to the smell, not too bitter and mostly comes out floral and vegetal. The floral hops are supported by sweet caramel malts.

feel: Relatively light, almost watery finish for an IPA

Overall: Sierra Nevada's Northern Hemisphere Harvest is an interesting display of a more floral/earthy hop rather than the typical piney or citrusy American hops that characterize our IPA's these days. Definitely not my favorite IPA, but a very interesting and pleasant experience that introduced new flavors to my palate. The beer is still solid and very quaffable, and I will likely try this again.

S: raisin, cannabis, tobacco... burlap, dried berry... no overt alcohol scent and the malt has a slight toasty, dark (bone dry) caramel note, but is otherwise rather clipped and mellow... the variety of oily green aromas is quite intriguing... perfumy, earthy, musky - lovely, but I'm not getting much potency for some reason

F: biting on the palate but a thoroughly enlivening... the back-end dryness is superb and (again) something the younger breweries need to learn how to copy... the level and presence of alcohol is damn near perfect - the bitterness enhances its attack mildly, but everything altogether at the optimal levels - nothing overdone

O: really a fantastic beer - criminally under-hyped... lucky to have (finally) stumbled across it at the perfect time (usually I'm a couple months or more late in noticing it on shelves)... easy choice of a six-pack grab over the next week or two, and next year round this time

A — Pours a nicely bright and vivid red hue out on the tap. There is a bone colored head that forms, settles to a nice layer atop the beer, and leaves behind some nice lacing with each sip.

S — Smell is fairly muted initially, but as it warms there is a real nice hop character, dominated by pine, lemon, earth, forest floor, and well, not much else. Just a nice showing of Centennial and Cascade hops, bitter, piney.

T — Taste is like the nose, though there is a more noticeable hop bite and profile, there is a nice bitterness here without being overly done. Nice malt profile to help round things out, and a lightly fruity and sweet finish.

M — Medium bodied, long lasting finish, slightly sticky.

O — Fairly well done, more hop bite and less of the sweet malt & yeast profile might take this over the top. Still, this is a great showcase of "wet" hops.

Man I love the fresh hop ales,I should have bought this when more fresh.Poured into a standard pint glass a rich clear copper/bronze with a large fluffy two finger slight off white head atop.Aromas of pine and caramel mainly with a bit of citrus and biscuit as well.Flavors are spicey like the label claimed,the hops are not overpowering but are the dominant flavor with a full caramel base.A little thin but not overly so,I very nice brew I liked the spiciness going on there,well done.

Appearance - This is a gorgeous, slightly-glowing orange/brown mix with a white, fluffy, wonderful head that showed terrific retention. It was one of the most inviting APAs that I've ever seen.

Smell - The hop aroma is sharp but muted, mixing together the stiff but not sweet orange smell along with some mild pine. The grain though stands its ground. This is not the normal American slop but some fine, crisp grain that smells like it came right out of the field.

Taste - The hop hit is bigger at the taste but otherwise mirrors the smell. The key to an APA though is balance, and SN did a terrific job on the grainy malt base that just does balance out the big hops.

Mouthfeel - This is a solid medium-bodied with perfect carbonation and an incredibly smooth mouthfeel.

Drinkability - This might seem just a bit stiff for the beginning drinker but anyone who can appreciate APAs will love this beer.

Presentation: 710 ml bulky and good looking bottle (looks like a regular Sierra Nevada bottle on steroids) with no freshness date to be found. A great deal of bragging about the unique brewing process on the label.

Appearance: A slightly reddish amber color. The liquid is clear, the 2 finger head is off-white, very creamy and sticks around for a while before settling into a decent lid of foam.

Smell: A predominantly hoppy smell: Plenty of fruity aromas - citrus fruits, mostly in the form of grapefruit but also some hints of lemon peel - but also a more earthy and grassy smell of hop resins. Perhaps not the most complex smell, but still very refreshing and pleasant.

Taste: A mix of delightful fruit flavors up front: Again, mostly sweet lemon and grapefruit, but I think I find some hints of peaches and strawberries here as well (I recently had the Celebration Ale from the same brewer, and I found the same taste of strawberries, but much more prominent, in that one). Then, dense earthy flavors, grass and weeds take over. The combination of fruity and earthy hop flavors in this one is really great. Perhaps some notes of tobacco are here as well. Beneath the hop aroma, a sweet taste of caramel-like malts backs things up. It finishes slightly dry with a firm, but not overpowering bitterness and long lasting hop resins.

Mouthfeel: Moderate body, medium carbonation. Somehow, I get the impression that the texture has a gentle crispness to it, yet still rather smooth.

Drinkability: A delightful beer. Although it's definitely on the hoppy side, it still feels very balanced. It has definitely not the most complex taste out there, but still it is a really refreshing blend of tropical fruits, earthy hop resins and restrained sweet malts. And although the hops really dominates, they never get too aggressive or overpowering. It's a laid back beer, yet it's full of character - somehow, I can't stop thinking of it as a Celebration Ale in harmony. Highly recommended.

I poured all 24 oz. into a massive snifter, resulting in a fluffy, three-finger, beige to light brown head. This rests above a very attractive ruby-mahogany body. The head takes it sweet time to deflate. Stringy lines of fine carbonation bubbles swim to the top of the glass at a moderate tempo. The lacing is dense and very intricate.

A hop aroma unique to wet hop ales that I've tried fills my nose. Aromas of freshly cut grass, pepper, hop oils, and citrus blend with a very dry biscuit aroma and a hint of caramel malt. The hop scent is wild - like putting a raw hop under one's nose and sucking air like a Hoover.

The taste is much akin to the smell. Fresh, bitter hops seep all over my palate. It is almost like rolling a hop around in one's mouth with a bit of water to lubricate the experience. It is a very earthy and grassy hop flavor. A caramel malt taste balances out the hops more so than I thought it would based on the smell, and a dry biscuit taste is also present.

The mouthfeel is creamy and medium-bodied for a wet hop ale, yet it still retains the great puckering, bitter, spicy hop character at which the aroma hinted. Northern Hemisphere has style-perfect carbonation, as well.

The is oh-so-drinkable. The 24 oz. went down easily and did not damn my palate. I think this will be a yearly treat for me, as long as I can find it right when it is released.

A beautiful auburn pour with a sudsy head that stuck around through half of the pour in an aventinus .5l glass leaving a scant and sticky lace. Great carbonation,big bubbles. The hop and malt aromas are understated and did not detect much alcohol on the nose which I was surprised by this being a "big" beer. The sweetness on the nose lead me to expect a balanced brew which would be surprising to me as most AIPAs that I have sampled have been overwhelmingly hoppy. Again, not as heavy as I have come to expect from an AIPA but pleasant on the pallet, not slick or syrupy. The hoppy aftertaste is nice. Though it is not as representative of the style as I have come to expect, the brew is clean, crisp, and very flavorful. I will drink and cook with this all season long.

The lacing on this beer is fantastic! If Picasso worked in head foam, it would look like this. It has an excellent citrus and hop aroma almost as if you are at the farm itself. A light, semi-airy mouth feel makes this American IPA extraordinary. Sierra Nevada hit a homerun with this one and I would prefer this one over its Southern hemisphere counterpart. I will.definitely go buy 1or 2 more bottles before they are gone.

I think it is safe to say that this beer is a more palatable and less floral version of their Pale Ale. It looks allmost identical and feels quite the same as far as mouthfeel goes, but the big difference is in the taste. The hops are a bit more bitter in this beer and there are also some spicy characteristics to it that I cannot put my finger on. The malt sneaks in and gives a peek but this a hoppy beer for sure. I will definantly come back to this one if I see it on tap again.

1/2 gallon growler. Pours from the growler a wonderful clear amber red with a huge pillowy two finger white head that slowly falls. Sticky patchwork lacing adorns the side of my SN tulip. Aromas of sweet caramelly malts collide with a fresh, vibrant citrusy, piney hops. Lovely hop oils make me feel like I'm in a field of hops smelling them right on the vine..covered in a sweet blanket of hops. Yum.

First sip brings a rush of sweet caramelly pale malts...chewy and a tad bit toasty, bready on the back of the palate. The citrusy, piney resinous hops soon take control and bring a lovely sturdy bitterness. Fresh, lush, floral....the green leafy hop flavors keep me coming back for sip after sip. The big "C" hops are in full effect. Subtle lingering bitterness after each gulp. Simply an amazing APA. Extremely well balanced and incredibly tasty...the malt and hops have a harmonious relationship...a new benchmark for APA's in my book. Big, tasty hop burps can't help but bring a smile to my face as well!

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, slightly creamy and smooth. Mellow carbonation helps this one go down easy. Chewier maltiness than most APA's. Drinkability is only hindered by availability. This growler will disappear far too fast and I'll be left searching for more. Please, please, bottle this!! A world class APA from one of my all time favorite breweries. Many, many thanks to kmpitz2 for allowing me the pleasure of sampling this fine brew.

12-9-07: 24oz. big bottle. Love the unique bottle and big size! This beer is as good as it's ever been and I'm glad to finally see it bottled. Big citric, piney hops all over the place in the aroma and flavor. Fresh, green with a sturdy smack of bitterness. I really can't say enough about how much I love this one. Cheers to Sierra Nevada for bottling this and I hope to see it again in the future.

It's somewhat hard to believe that this beer is classified only as an American pale ale. It packs a serious hop wallop... definitely enough to stand up against any IPA, or even some double IPAs.

Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale is one of those beers that is so hoppy & dry-bodied that it leaves you thirsty, with cottonmouth, after you're done. Probably not a beer you'd want to drink all night, but it is quite an experience while you're having it.

The trademark familiar Sierra Nevada blast-of-cascade-hops is right up front and present in this beer. Delicious floral aroma... lots of heavy lacing in the pintglass.

The truest way to describe Harvest Ale is that it is basically an amped-up version of their flagship beer - the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. More hops, darker color, stronger scent, more bitter, more bite.

12th Release, 2008 Edition
The beer was amber in color with a thick, off-white head. A little bit of lacing.
Mostly floral aroma, with a little bit of citrus.
Pine and lavender taste, with some grapefruit. They complement each other quite well.
A smooth, easy to drink beer.